30: Old Bridge

30 years ago today (November 9, 1993) the Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina was destroyed by the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) who shelled the Bridge during the 1992-1994 Croat–Bosniak War.

The original Old Bridge was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and lasted 436 years (including during the German Occupation of Mostar during World War 2.)

During the 1992-1994 Croat-Bosniak War the Old Bride separated the Bosniaks on the western side and the Croats on the eastern side.

A Temporary Bridge was built in 3 days in December 1993 to reconnect the besieged City.

The Temporary Bridge continued to be shelled by the Croats and then by the Serbs (during the 1994-1996 Serb-Bosniak/Croat War.)

After the Bosnia War ended in 1996 The World Bank, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the World Monuments Fund formed a coalition to oversee the reconstruction of the Old Bridge with additional funding provided by Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Croatia, the Council of Europe Development Bank and the Bosnian Government.

The Old Bridge was rebuilt using the same techniques and materials that were used in 1557 and the New Old Bridge was opened on July 23, 2004 and cost $15.5 Million Dollars.

I visited Mostar and the Old Bridge with my Mom in December 2010.

The City is still very segregated (most of the Serbs have moved out) and the Croats live on one side and the Bosniaks live on the other side of the City and the Children go to a “Two Schools Under One Roof” system where they use the same building, but enter using a different door and the Croat Children learn Croatian History and Subjects from Croatian Teachers and Bosniak Children learn Bosniak History and Subjects from Bosniak Teachers.

Apparently, a Croat can tell a Bosniak (and vice versa) from the way they speak the same Language but I couldn’t. I just know that I had some very helpful People carry my Mom in her Wheelchair over the cobbled streets to the Old Bridge and back again – and I used the Bosnian and Croatian Words for “Thank You” I had learned during my trip to thank them.